Revival of the 'golden fibre' in the offing
Saturday, 31 December 2011
Jute is a fibrous plant and second to cotton in significance. It is a long, soft, shiny fibre that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. Jute cultivation is almost as old as human civilisation. In trade there are usually two types of jute, 'white' and 'tossa.' Traditionally, these have been used for making ropes, twines, indigenous cloth and handicrafts. Jute can be used to produce a number of fabrics such as Hessian, carpet backing cloth (CBC), and canvas. Hessian, lighter than sacking, is used for bags, wrappers, wall-coverings, upholstery, and home furnishings. Sacking, a fabric made of heavy jute fibres, has its use in the name. CBC made of jute comes in two types. Primary CBC provides a tufting surface, while secondary CBC is bonded on the primary backing for a cover. Jute packaging is used as an eco-friendly substitute.
Diversified jute products are becoming more and more valuable to the consumers today. Among these are espadrilles, floor coverings, home textiles, high performance technical textiles, geo-textiles, composites, and more. Jute leaves and roots are also used as vegetable and as medicine.
There are many reasons why jute is of greater economic and socio-economic importance than ever before. More than 12 million small and subsistence farmers in South and South-East Asia derive their livelihood from jute production, and hundreds of thousands of other workers are employed in jute industries and trade. Moreover, jute is an environmentally-friendly product, which, by supplementing and/or replacing synthetics, could once again become an important raw material in many industrial sectors.
Currently, Bangladesh is the second largest producer of jute, India being the largest one. But Bangladesh produces the finest quality of jute due to favourable climate and soil condition. Jute production has registered a significant rise during the last couple of years.
Jute products have assumed importance with the growing global awareness of environmental hazards and commitments to reduce green-house gases (GHGs) emissions and global warning. In today's world, the growing integration of world markets provides opportunities for substantial economic growth, like for example gaining higher incomes and increasing the quality of products. Not only the environmental hazards and commitments to reduce green-house gases (GHGs) emissions but also the quality of jute and export performance has reasonably improved.
Due to increase in the jute-diversified products; the export trend is also encouraging. This trend shows us a ray of hope that again we can rank jute in the first place in our export list.
Experts anticipate a huge growing market for diversified jute products in the world in future. Against this backdrop, it is essential to explore and penetrate new markets for Bangladeshi jute and jute products since the country produces the best quality jute in the world. But the sector is struggling with many problems. That is why Bangladesh is unable to compete with India and China, which serve most of the world demand. If the authority concerned takes necessary steps, jute will regain its past glory and become the Golden Fibre once again.
The writer is Research fellow, Faculty of General Studies, Bangladesh University of Professionals, and can be reached at email: ahad36@gmail.com
Diversified jute products are becoming more and more valuable to the consumers today. Among these are espadrilles, floor coverings, home textiles, high performance technical textiles, geo-textiles, composites, and more. Jute leaves and roots are also used as vegetable and as medicine.
There are many reasons why jute is of greater economic and socio-economic importance than ever before. More than 12 million small and subsistence farmers in South and South-East Asia derive their livelihood from jute production, and hundreds of thousands of other workers are employed in jute industries and trade. Moreover, jute is an environmentally-friendly product, which, by supplementing and/or replacing synthetics, could once again become an important raw material in many industrial sectors.
Currently, Bangladesh is the second largest producer of jute, India being the largest one. But Bangladesh produces the finest quality of jute due to favourable climate and soil condition. Jute production has registered a significant rise during the last couple of years.
Jute products have assumed importance with the growing global awareness of environmental hazards and commitments to reduce green-house gases (GHGs) emissions and global warning. In today's world, the growing integration of world markets provides opportunities for substantial economic growth, like for example gaining higher incomes and increasing the quality of products. Not only the environmental hazards and commitments to reduce green-house gases (GHGs) emissions but also the quality of jute and export performance has reasonably improved.
Due to increase in the jute-diversified products; the export trend is also encouraging. This trend shows us a ray of hope that again we can rank jute in the first place in our export list.
Experts anticipate a huge growing market for diversified jute products in the world in future. Against this backdrop, it is essential to explore and penetrate new markets for Bangladeshi jute and jute products since the country produces the best quality jute in the world. But the sector is struggling with many problems. That is why Bangladesh is unable to compete with India and China, which serve most of the world demand. If the authority concerned takes necessary steps, jute will regain its past glory and become the Golden Fibre once again.
The writer is Research fellow, Faculty of General Studies, Bangladesh University of Professionals, and can be reached at email: ahad36@gmail.com